1907.] ENGLISH DOMESTIC CATS. 153 



of the nape, and entering the anterior apex of a diamond-shaped 

 space (c.sp.), which is bordered laterally by the posterior ends of the 

 external cervical stripes and the anterior ends of a pair of broad 

 suprascapular stripes {supr.sc). The latter lie near the middle line 

 on the summit of the shoulder, and diverge forwards to meet at 

 an obtuse angle the posterior ends of the backwardly-diverging 

 external cervical stripes. From this angle stripes pass obliquely 

 forwards and downwards on to the sides of the neck and throat, 

 the posterior of them lying in front of the shoulder and forming 

 a throat collar. From the suprascapular stripe one broad vertical 

 strijDe, the scapular stripe (sc), passes over the shoulder and loses 

 itself in the uppermost of the transverse brachial stiipes of the 

 fore leg. This scapular stripe forms the anterior Vjorder of the 

 postscapular space (p. sc.sp.), which is bounded behind by a second 

 broad vertical stripe, the postscapular stripe (^.sc), descending 

 from the posterior end of the suprascapular stiipe. Extending 

 along the middle of the spine from the posterior apex of the 

 cervical space there is a very narrow spinal or median dorsal stripe 

 {sj).), which passes down the middle line of the tail. Running 

 forwards on each side of this from the root of the tail to the 

 posterior end of the suprascapular stripe, which it frequently joins, 

 there is a very broad latero-dorsal stripe (lat.dors.). Beneath or 

 externally to this on the body there are three broad stripes 

 whose direction is obliquely longitudinal. The upper of these, the 

 supero-latei"al (sup.lat.), forms a bold downward curve posteriorly, 

 while the inferior, the infero-lateral (inf.lat.), curves upwards 

 anteriorly. They thus partially circumscribe an elliptical or 

 subcircular area, in which lies the short and broad medio-lateral 

 stripe (med.lat.), which frequently has the form of a lai-ge spot 

 or blotch. These three stripes form the so-called " horseshoe," 

 " circular," or " spiral " mark characteristic of this type of 

 Domestic Oat. On the thighs there are broad transverse stripes, 

 the upper of which, the femoral stripe, extends obliquely down- 

 wards and forwards from a point beneath the posteiior end of the 

 latero-dorsal stripe to a point beneath the downcurved posterior 

 end of the supero-lateral stripe. In the space between the three 

 stripes just mentioned lies a large spot or stripe, which frequently 

 fuses with the femoral stripe. On both fore and hind legs the 

 stripes thin out and die away towards the paws, which are typi- 

 cally black behind up to the wrist and hock. The tail is black at 

 the tip, and marked throughout with transverse black bars, which 

 are very broad where they touch the median caudal stripe. 



The pattern of this Cat varies considerably in detail with 

 respect to the width and degi'ee of fusion of the stripes. The 

 cervical and postscapular spaces are sometimes hardly apparent, 

 and the stripes may widen and fuse to such an extent that an 

 almost totally black Cat results. It is possible that the blackness 

 of some Cats is attributable to this process ; but usually the 

 blackness is due to the melanism of the ground-colour, the 

 stripes retaining their normal width and being detectable under 



